Thursday

In this week's Point/Counterpoint, writers are addressing the question: Is Bernie Sanders the Democrats' best bet to beat President Donald Trump?

Although the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates seems to grow daily, one name stands out at this early juncture: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Bernie's back on the campaign trail and drumming up the liberal base for a run atop the 2020 Democratic Party ticket. And who knows, with Joe Biden still undecided, Bernie sure seems like a solid front-runner.

Despite the fact that Sanders is the leading declared candidate in most polls — he also raised more than $10 million in the first week after his announcement — Bernie would be a disastrous Democratic presidential nominee and possibly the best thing for President Donald Trump's re-election bid.

Sanders is a self-avowed "democratic socialist." He honeymooned in the Soviet Union and has a long track record of praising socialist and communist regimes — not exactly something that most American voters would agree with.

Bernie's socialist policies and ideology are well out of line with what most Americans want. Just consider some of the radical things Sanders has said about socialism:

"It's funny," Sanders once said. "Sometimes American journalists talk about how bad a country is because people are lining up for food. That's a good thing. In other countries, people don't line up for food, rich people get the food and poor people starve to death."

"In 1959 ... everybody was totally convinced that Castro was the worst guy in the world and all of the Cuban people were going to rise up in rebellion against Fidel Castro," Sanders said.

"They forgot that he educated their kids, gave their kids health care, totally transformed the society." And those are just a small sample of the "Sanders Socialism Greatest Hits Collection."

Given these statements, it is quite amazing that Sanders currently holds a seat in the U.S. Senate, let alone that he almost won the 2016 contest to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

Some might feel tempted to give Bernie the benefit of the doubt. After all, he made those crazy statements many years ago.

No doubt Sanders, along with the rest of the world, witnessed the horrific collapse of communism in the late 20th century.

Moreover, some might think Sanders has learned from the chaos taking place in Venezuela and the human rights tragedies in North Korea, two modern examples of socialist and communist horrors.

However, despite the cavalcade of evidence, Sanders continues to refuse to acknowledge the absolute failure of his socialist/communist ideology.

Sanders would rather double down and inflict this horror show upon Americans, if he were to somehow get elected to the highest office in the land.

Just take a quick peek at the items on Bernie's policy platform:

* Medicare for all: "We must expand 'Medicare for All' by creating a single-payer health-care system for every American."

* College tuition: "All public colleges and universities should be tuition free."

* Energy efficiency: "The United States must transform its energy system away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal, and towards energy-efficient, sustainable, clean, and renewable energy solutions such as wind, solar, and geothermal."

* Expanding the social safety net and increasing access to opportunity: "Use revenue from progressive taxation to expand and create programs to help alleviate poverty and help Americans move forward and contribute to a more robust, equitable economy," Sanders says.

And these socialist policy proposals are only the tip of the iceberg.

Thankfully, most American voters still don't want socialism. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey shows only 18 percent of Americans have a positive view of socialism.

In 2020, Bernie very well could be the last Democrat standing at the end of the party's presidential nomination contest. If he is, Americans will very likely reject his far-left policies, as they have for more than two centuries, spelling doom for Democrats.

Chris Talgo is an editor at The Heartland Institute, a conservative think-tank in Arlington Heights.

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